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Many of you know
that I am interested in helping foster children and foster and adoptive parents.
This research study as several others I have been reading recently discuss how
stress in the early life effects the brain and may diminish the processing of
the reward centers of the brain. One of the other studies I have looked at
indicates that if you can get children into a healthy parenting home by the age
of two the children can recover. When I
was trained to be Foster Parent they said children over the age of ten where "unadoptable." They think they are hopeless. I just can’t let myself believe that is true. Here is the research that should motivate all of us to help children get into healthy loving homes as soon as possible.

Date: October 29, 2015 Source:Elsevier

Summary: Early life stress is a major risk factor
for later episodes of depression. In fact, adults who are abused or neglected
as children are almost twice as likely to experience depression. Scientific
research into this link has revealed that the increased risk following such
childhood adversity is associated with sensitization of the brain circuits
involved with processing threat and driving the stress response. More recently,
research has begun to demonstrate that in parallel to this stress
sensitization, there may also be diminished processing of reward in the brain
and associated reductions in a person's ability to experience positive
emotions.

The
researchers focused on the ventral striatum, a deep brain region that is
important for processing rewarding experiences as well as generating positive
emotions, both of which are deficient in depression.

Early
life stress is a major risk factor for later episodes of depression. In fact,
adults who are abused or neglected as children are almost twice as likely to
experience depression.

Scientific
research into this link has revealed that the increased risk following such
childhood adversity is associated with sensitization of the brain circuits
involved with processing threat and driving the stress response. More recently,
research has begun to demonstrate that in parallel to this stress
sensitization, there may also be diminished processing of reward in the brain
and associated reductions in a person's ability to experience positive
emotions.

Researchers
at Duke University and the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San
Antonio looked specifically at this second phenomenon in a longitudinal
neuroimaging study of adolescents, in order to better understand how early life
stress contributes to depression.

They
recruited 106 adolescents, between the ages of 11-15, who underwent an initial
magnetic resonance imaging scan, along with measurements of mood and neglect.
The study participants then had a second brain scan two years later.

The
researchers focused on the ventral striatum, a deep brain region that is
important for processing rewarding experiences as well as generating positive
emotions, both of which are deficient in depression.

"Our
analyses revealed that over a two-year window during early to mid-adolescence,
there was an abnormal decrease in the response of the ventral striatum to
reward only in adolescents who had been exposed to emotional neglect, a
relatively common form of childhood adversity where parents are persistently
emotionally unresponsive and unavailable to their children," explained
first author Dr. Jamie Hanson.

"Importantly,
we further showed that this decrease in ventral striatum activity predicted the
emergence of depressive symptoms during this key developmental period," he
added. "Our work is consistent with other recent studies finding deficient
reward processing in depression, and further underscores the importance of
considering such developmental pathways in efforts to protect individuals
exposed to childhood adversity from later depression."

This
study suggests that, in some people, early life stress compromises the capacity
to experience enthusiasm or pleasure. In addition, the effect of early life
stress may grow over time so that people who initially appear resilient may
develop problems later in life.

"This
insight is important because it suggests a neural pathway through which early
life stress may contribute to depression," said Dr. John Krystal, Editor
of Biological Psychiatry. "This pathway might be targeted by neural
stimulation treatments. Further, it suggests that survivors of early life
trauma and their families may benefit from learning about the possibility of
consequences that might appear later in life. This preparation could help lead
to early intervention."

Story
Source: The
above post is reprinted from materials provided by Elsevier. Note: Materials may be edited for content and
length.

Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.